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From CBS News
The price of the same prescription drug can vary by hundreds or even thousands of dollars, depending on where you buy it, according to a new report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group which surveyed hundreds of pharmacies and found large price differences for identical medications.
Nearly one in four Americans struggle to pay for their medications and this year already, more than 250 prescription drugs have seen price hikes averaging 6 percent, according to an analysis by RX Savings Solutions.
Adam Garber is the consumer watchdog for the U.S. PIRG. The group surveyed more than 250 pharmacies across the country for the cash prices of common medications, the price someone pays if they don't have insurance or are under-insured and do not qualify for coupons or savings programs sometimes offered by drug manufacturers.
"These real price variations we're seeing have huge health consequences for Americans," Garber told CBS News' Anna Werner. "These prices are often how they determine how much insurers are going to pay for the drugs … it sort of sets the whole pricing scheme up."
The study found consumers could save anywhere from $100 to $5,400 a year just by price shopping. In Ohio, they found the same inhaler being sold for $11.99 at one pharmacy and $1,136 at a different pharmacy. In North Carolina, a generic medicine to lower cholesterol could cost $7 or $393 depending on where it was purchased.
COMMENT:-
Curioser and curioser. One wonders why the pharmacy selling the inhaler for $1,136 doesn't simply buy their supply from the pharmacy that sells it for $11.99 and make one hell of a lot more money.
Prescription drug prices can vary by thousands of dollars depending on where you buy them
The price of the same prescription drug can vary by hundreds or even thousands of dollars, depending on where you buy it, according to a new report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group which surveyed hundreds of pharmacies and found large price differences for identical medications.
Nearly one in four Americans struggle to pay for their medications and this year already, more than 250 prescription drugs have seen price hikes averaging 6 percent, according to an analysis by RX Savings Solutions.
Adam Garber is the consumer watchdog for the U.S. PIRG. The group surveyed more than 250 pharmacies across the country for the cash prices of common medications, the price someone pays if they don't have insurance or are under-insured and do not qualify for coupons or savings programs sometimes offered by drug manufacturers.
"These real price variations we're seeing have huge health consequences for Americans," Garber told CBS News' Anna Werner. "These prices are often how they determine how much insurers are going to pay for the drugs … it sort of sets the whole pricing scheme up."
The study found consumers could save anywhere from $100 to $5,400 a year just by price shopping. In Ohio, they found the same inhaler being sold for $11.99 at one pharmacy and $1,136 at a different pharmacy. In North Carolina, a generic medicine to lower cholesterol could cost $7 or $393 depending on where it was purchased.
COMMENT:-
Curioser and curioser. One wonders why the pharmacy selling the inhaler for $1,136 doesn't simply buy their supply from the pharmacy that sells it for $11.99 and make one hell of a lot more money.
